Argentina’s Laura Balin from kindergarten teacher to ONE Championship world title challenger

Prior to becoming one of South America’s most successful female mixed martial artists, Laura “The Gladiadora” Balin was a kindergarten teacher at a local school in Argentina. She adored a simple kind of life but things changed when her husband Guillermo Balin convinced her to give kickboxing a try and offered to be her trainer.

Laura is a good mother to her two sons, who are now aged 14 and 18. It did not take long for her to fall in love with the striking discipline as she soon decided to leave her teaching career behind for a new adventure in combat sports.

“I started practicing kickboxing in 2008 or 2009,” Laura shared. “I made my debut when I was 30 years old in that discipline, and in 2011, I began competing in mixed martial arts.”

“I did have to make some changes in my life because I was a teacher,” the Argentinian MMA fighter added. “I taught at a school, and I had to leave that job to commit to this as long as possible.”

As Laura pointed out, she got a late start in MMA. However, her dedication to the craft eventually turned her into one of the most talented strawweights in South America.

“It is a feeling that few have, knowing what to do,” Laura said. “Very few people get that feeling. But when I started this, I suddenly knew what I wanted to do all my life.”

“Martial arts is in my blood,” the mother of two stated. “I had learned so many techniques that I wanted to try it.”

As a martial artist, Laura enjoys every day of practice in the gym. She loves the constant challenges that the MMA sport brings to her.

“When it came to pursuing mixed martial arts professionally, I simply wanted to see how far I could go,” Laura explained. “It is an amazing experience.”

On June 23, 2018, Laura will make an attempt to dethrone reigning ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan of China at “ONE: Pinnacle of Power” at the Studio City Event Center in Macau, China. Here is a clip from the Chinese champ’s most recent bout: